Recently, Cheung Kong Group's Hutchison Whampoa Real Estate has focused on promoting four projects to Hong Kong buyers: Huizhou Longpo Garden, Zhongshan Longpo Garden, Guangzhou Yicui Garden, and Dongguan Haiyi Haoting, totaling 400 units, with the lowest total price starting from 400,000 yuan.
Taking Huizhou Longpo Garden as an example, the unit price of a 51-square-meter one-bedroom unit was previously 10,400 to 14,000 yuan/square meter, while now a one-bedroom unit of 51.34 square meters on a mid-to-high floor is priced at 443,000 yuan, equating to a unit price of about 8,632 yuan/square meter; the price of Dongguan Haiyi Haoting's villas dropped from 44,000 to 68,000 yuan/square meter in May 2023 to 18,000 to 36,000 yuan/square meter in June this year.
(Every Day Economic News) Reporters noticed that this kind of 'new sales from old projects' operation not only continues the Li Ka Shing family's strategy of 'acquiring land at low prices and long-term development' but also reflects the significant increase in the demand for Hong Kong residents to purchase properties in the mainland.
According to data disclosed by the People's Bank of China Guangdong Branch, as of the end of June this year, there were a total of 3,341 transactions of mainland property purchases by Hong Kong and Macau residents in the jurisdiction of the Guangdong Branch, generating cross-border income equivalent to 3.08 billion yuan.
'In recent years, Hong Kong residents buying properties in the mainland has become a significant characteristic of the real estate market: on one hand, the mainland, including Guangdong, has become the first choice for Hong Kong residents to vacation and consume; on the other hand, Guangdong has made remarkable achievements in the implementation of the Greater Bay Area plan, with increasing connectivity in terms of factor interconnectivity and equalization of public services among the nine cities in the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong and Macau.' On the afternoon of July 29, Li Yujia, chief researcher at the Guangdong Provincial Housing Policy Research Center, told reporters.
A certain property for sale in Zengcheng, Guangzhou. Source: Every Day Economic News reporter Chen Ronghao.
'Hong Kong clients chartered a bus to view properties.'
Among the four aforementioned projects, Huizhou Longpo Garden has the largest sales scale, reaching 300 units, with the lowest total price for a one-bedroom unit being about 400,000 yuan; Dongguan Haiyi Haoting's villas are mainly targeted at high-end clientele, with total prices ranging from 7 million to 8 million yuan.
Tan Jianxu, director of market and corporate business development at Hutchison Whampoa Real Estate, revealed that since mid-last year, the demand from Hong Kong buyers for properties in the Greater Bay Area has significantly increased, with nearly 600 units sold at Huizhou Longpo Garden, most of which were purchased by Hong Kong residents.
Source: Hong Kong Property Market Insight
Most of the projects launched this time are those acquired at low prices in earlier years.
Specifically, Dongguan Haiyi Haoting was acquired by Hutchison Whampoa in 1999 and has developed three phases to date; Guangzhou Yicui Garden was developed in July 2012 and completed on December 5, 2014, with another launch on July 11, 2020; Zhongshan Longpo Garden opened its first phase in July 2019; Huizhou Longpo Garden was relatively recently developed, entering the market around 2019.
'Many Hong Kong clients come to buy Longpo Garden, as the total price is relatively cheap. The total price for one-bedroom and two-bedroom units is around 400,000 to 600,000 yuan, which is not enough for a down payment in Hong Kong.' On the morning of July 30, Liu Xin, a local real estate agent, told reporters that previously, a Hong Kong client chartered a bus to view properties, and to attract Hong Kong customers, the project also set up buses between Longpo Garden and Shenzhen Luohu Port and Futian Port.
Huizhou Dayawan Longpo Garden listing situation. Source: Lianjia.
Among the total number of residential units in the aforementioned projects, except for Zhongshan Longpo Garden with only 303 units, the number of other projects is all above a thousand.
Every Day Economic News reporters found in the annual report that as of the end of 2024, Cheung Kong Group is still developing 11 real estate projects in the mainland, mainly distributed in Changsha, Chongqing, Dalian, Dongguan, Wuhan, Shanghai, and other places.
In Li Yujia's view, there are two core motivations for Hong Kong residents buying properties in the mainland. 'On one hand, they can purchase larger units at lower prices and enjoy community services that are not available in Hong Kong and Macau; on the other hand, the aging trend in Hong Kong and Macau is evident, with fewer job opportunities for young people. Some Hong Kong and Macau enterprises and universities are starting to establish roots in the Greater Bay Area, which has also increased the number of homebuyers based on employment and retirement needs.'
'The total price of one unit is only about the down payment for the same area in Hong Kong.'
Some industry insiders believe that the main reasons why mainland properties are favored by Hong Kong residents are twofold: first, the residential prices in the mainland have a significant advantage compared to Hong Kong; second, the transportation between cities in the Greater Bay Area is increasingly developed, and the spacious living space and convenient transportation network are very attractive to Hong Kong residents.
Regarding the 'Double Living Plan' launched by Cheung Kong Group, He Qianru, director of the National Research Center of Midland Realty, pointed out: 'Current housing prices are at a low level or have slightly adjusted downwards, which aligns with market trends. This is not a specific developer giving discounts to Hong Kong customers, but developers adjusting prices based on market changes to maintain a normal transaction rhythm, which is quite common in the current market situation.'
According to data from Anjuke, as of July 29, there are a total of 311 properties for sale in Hong Kong, about 10 properties pending sale, with an average selling price of new houses being about 196,000 yuan/square meter.
The price difference between the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong has become a key factor attracting Hong Kong residents to purchase properties. Taking Huizhou Longpo Garden as an example, its unit price is about 8,632 yuan/square meter, which is even less than one-tenth of the average price of new homes in Hong Kong. This price difference is very attractive to the middle class in Hong Kong; the total price of a 50-square-meter small unit is only about equivalent to the down payment of a property of the same area in Hong Kong.
Policies have further promoted this trend.
In February 2024, the People's Bank of China Guangdong Branch launched a policy to facilitate payment for property purchases by Hong Kong and Macau residents. As of June 2025, 3,341 transactions had been processed, involving an amount of 3.08 billion yuan. Guangzhou, Huizhou, and other places also held special promotion meetings and organized viewing tours.
In terms of transactions, the New World Guanghui Zunfu in the eastern center of Guangzhou recently experienced a wave of transaction heat. According to reports from New World China South, recently, a senior executive from a Hong Kong enterprise purchased three units in a row.
They value the project's transportation convenience and commercial maturity, and this change requires developers to focus more on practicality in product design, such as increasing Hong Kong-style layouts and introducing cross-border property services.
It is worth noting that the demand for property ownership among Hong Kong residents has shifted from investment to self-occupation. In the past, Hong Kong buyers mainly purchased properties for asset allocation purposes, but now they pay more attention to living amenities and long-term holding value.
'As the 'one-hour living circle' of the Greater Bay Area gradually takes shape, the 'cross-border living-employment' ecology between Hong Kong and the mainland is becoming increasingly normalized. The basic systems and environments for employment, living, and residing in the Greater Bay Area are becoming more aligned with those of Hong Kong and Macau, but costs, experiences, and prices are significantly better than those in Hong Kong and Macau.' Li Yujia stated that the demand in this area may gradually expand in the future, and both Hong Kong-funded enterprises and mainland enterprises need to adapt to this trend by investing in corresponding products based on research into the housing and retirement characteristics of Hong Kong residents, which is an opportunity in the market segmentation field.
Every Day Economic News
Every Day Economic News reporter: Chen Ronghao. Every Day Economic News editor: Cheng Peng, Chen Mengyu.